A new website has been created for The Dictionary of Welsh Biography. It will be launched at the beginning of November 2018 and will include new content, functions and design. Head over to biography.wales now to see what's new!

This website will eventually be replaced by biography.wales. In the meantime, we would like to hear from our users so you're welcome to send us any questions or feedback that you may have.

OWEN
,
DAVID
(
Brutus
;
1795
-
1866
),
editor and littérateur
;

b.
towards the end of 1795
(he was christened on
25 Dec. 1795
) in the parish of
Llanpumpsaint, Carms.
His father,
David Benjamin
(
Owen
)
, was a
shoemaker
and a
sexton
, and his mother,
Rachel
(
Owen
)
, was a
Baptist
. He received a good education, including instruction in the classics. He intended becoming a
physician
and was apprenticed to
JohnThomas
of
Aberduar
, near
Llanybyther
. During his apprenticeship he became a
Baptist
and decided to enter the ministry. He spent a year at the
Baptist Academy
at
Bristol
before settling at
Aber
, between
Bangor
and
Llanfairfechan
, as a
schoolmaster
and
lay preacher
. After three years he moved to
Llyn
to take charge of the chapels of
Tal-y-graig
,
Galltraeth
,
Tyndonnen
, and
Rhoshirwaun
, and he was ordained as a
minister
. He made his home at
Llangian
; and in addition to his ministerial office, he served also as a
country doctor
and a
schoolmaster
. About
1820
he m.
Anne
, daughter of
ThomasJones
,
Rhandir
, a local
farmer
and an
Independent deacon
. It was presumably poverty and his rashness that drove him to appeal for financial aid from the
Unitarian Association
, claiming that his congregations had accepted
Unitarian
beliefs. His deception was unmasked and he was expelled by the
Baptist Association
at
Pwllheli
.

That which brought him to prominence in
Wales
was his letter (under the pseudonym
Brutus
) in
Seren Gomer
,
March 1824
, attacking the
Welsh
language. Henceforth it was as ‘
Brutus
’ that he was known. Expelled by the
Baptists
, he became a member of the
Independent church
,
Capel Newydd
, and
kept school
at
Llangian
. He was allowed to
preach
amongst the
Independents
, but he did not become popular. Later, he moved to
Tyddyn-sweep
,
Maenaddfwyn
, near
Llannerch-y-medd
(
Anglesey
); but he was not very successful there either, and soon afterwards he moved to
Bontnewydd
, near
Caernarvon
, and
kept a school
there.

In
1828
, after being appointed
editor
of
Lleuad yr Oes
, a journal published at
Aberystwyth
, he became a
schoolmaster
at
Llanbadarn-fawr
, but when the copyright of the magazine was bought in
1829
by
JeffreyJones
, the
Llandoveryprinter
,
Brutus
moved to
Pentre-ty-gwyn
. When
JeffreyJones
d. in
1830
,
Yr Efangylydd
was launched, as successor to
Lleuad yr Oes
, by a committee of
Independent ministers
, with
Brutus
as
editor
, and
Messrs.D. R.
and
W.Rees
(qq.v.)
,
Llandovery
, as
printers
. Under the editorship of
Brutus
the new magazine became more political than had been intended, with a tendency towards political and ecclesiastical conservatism, and
Brutus
was threatened with expulsion from office. To resolve this conflict,
Messrs.Rees
launched a new journal,
Yr Haul
, with
Brutus
as
editor
, to serve the
Established Church
, and the
Independents
launched
Y Diwygiwr
, with
D.Rees
(
1801
-
1869
) (q.v.)
as
editor
, in
1835
.
Brutus
returned to the
Anglican church
, at
Llywel
, and moved to
Pwllmadog
, near
Pentre-bach
, between
Llandovery
and
Trecastle
. Later, he resided at
Bronarthen
, near
Half-way
. To the end of his life he continued to edit
Yr Haul
very ably, but he would occasionally attend
Horeb
, the
Baptist chapel
at
Cwm-dwr
. It is remarkable
that he never received holy orders in the Church. He d.
16 Jan. 1866
, and was buried at
Llywel
, where there is a tablet to his memory.